Saturday, December 24, 2011

GBGA Regular Season Game 34: Burned

A wide shot causes the Wings to cycle on the penalty kill. Helm goes from the corner to the point and tries to take away the passing lane but can't. Jokinen is very open and takes the available shot.

Kronwall should be lower in the zone but stays in an in-between area to attempt a shot block. He misses, and this leaves a man in the corner uncovered. A rebound bounces to the side of the net, and Glencross is there to roof it past Conklin. Stuart is the low man and tries to slide over and cover but can't make it in time, nor can you really expect him to.

2nd Period

Calgary 2 Detroit 0; 1:30- Comeau from Morrison & Jackman

The Wings attempt a cross-ice pass that goes wide and off the half boards. Calgary collects the loose puck and moves it up ice. Jackman gets Kronwalled at the blue line but still somehow sends a pass ahead for Morrison.

The Wings have 1 defensemen back. In an ideal world he would step towards the trailing player and Conklin (or better yet, a backchecker) could take the shooter. That doesn't happen, as Stuart stays between the two Calgary players and tries to take away the passing lane.

The pass gets under Stuart, and now Conklin is hung out to dry. He had to stay square to Morrison and respect the shot from him, but once the pass gets through there's no way he can move laterally quick enough to square with Comeau.

Calgary 3 Detroit 0; 5:47- Glencross from Bouwmeester

Detroit carries in on a 4-on-4. There's a messy exchange between Ian White and Zetterberg, and White mishandles the puck. It goes off the boards and is picked up by Bouwmeester. All he has to do is move the puck up to Glencross.

Lidstrom is the lone defender back, and he stands his ground in the middle of the ice to take away the cross-ice passing lane. It's good that he takes this away, as it forces Glencross to shoot. This makes Conklin's job a little easier. Having said that, the cross-ice Calgary skater is in front of Lidstrom, and at this point I'd rather see him try and step up and stop Glencross' shot. Conklin should have been able to track this but lets it in, and it's a softie.

3rd Period

Calgary 3 Detroit 1; 4:55- Hudler (8) from Ericsson (5)

Calgary gains control behind their net and tries to clear their defensive zone. Ericsson holds it in for the Wings and quickly passes to Hudler. Hudler digs the puck out of his skates in the slot.

Hudler backhands a shot in for Detroit's first goal of the game. Zetterberg does a perfect job screening Kiprusoff here, and this is really the reason Hudler's shot finds the back of the net. Without Zetterberg in front this one would have been an easy save for Kiprusoff.

Calgary 3 Detroit 2; 15:48- White (5) from Datsyuk (25)

Datsyk wins the faceoff cleanly back to Ian White. This goal is a thing of beauty. As the Calgary player in front of the net moves towards his coverage area, he simultaneously opens up the lane White needs for his shot to go in. White unleashes a slap shot as soon as the puck gets to him, and Kiprusoff isn't ready for it. It beats him far side. I swore I wouldn't refer to shots as "lasers," but I don't know that I've ever seen a shot more deserving of that adjective.

About Me

Adam is a U of M grad who learned how to hold a hockey stick from watching Fedorov and the Wings on their '97 Cup run. He hasn't looked back since. Or skated, but that's beside the point. His ultimate goal is to provide the most thorough goal-by-goal and statistical analysis of Red Wings hockey on the internet. Follow the blog on Twitter @TOGBlog1